Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Lepers, Judges, and Pride - The Gospels

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Lepers, Judges, and Pride - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And the publican, standing far off, would
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  Speaker 1: not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
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  Speaker 1: but smote him on his breast, saying, God, be merciful
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  Speaker 1: to me, a sinner. Luke 18.13 God of heaven and earth,
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  Speaker 1: I want to take a moment and thank you for
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  Speaker 1: cleansing my life and for giving me a second chance
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  Speaker 1: to enjoy all that you have for me. like you
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  Speaker 1: did to those lepers in today's story. May my posture
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  Speaker 1: and my heart be like the one leper who came
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  Speaker 1: back to thank you. May my life serve as a
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  Speaker 1: continual thanksgiving to you for all that you've done for
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  Speaker 1: me and all that you're going to do for me
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  Speaker 1: in the future. I live with gratitude because it is
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  Speaker 1: only by your power, Jesus, that I have access to
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  Speaker 1: eternal life and life in abundance here on earth. For
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  Speaker 1: I will not live with a spirit of judgment on
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  Speaker 1: my life, like the Pharisees did to the tax collector. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: I will be a model of the life of Jesus
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  Speaker 1: who looked at the heart before any outward appearance. Pride
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  Speaker 1: will not be afforded the luxury to take up space
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  Speaker 1: in my mind and my life, because that space is
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  Speaker 1: already occupied by the love and humility of Christ. I
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  Speaker 1: stamp this as my truth. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks
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  Speaker 1: for making prayer a priority in your life. To hear
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  Speaker 1: the Bible come to life, stay tuned for The Bible
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  Speaker 1: in a Year, brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Lepers, Judges, and Pride In our last story, we explored
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  Speaker 2: the story of the prodigal son. Jesus used his story
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  Speaker 2: to demonstrate the steadfast forgiveness of God. No matter how
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  Speaker 2: far gone someone may seem, the Lord is actively waiting
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  Speaker 2: to restore and forgive. Now we see Jesus healing lepers,
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  Speaker 2: ministering to his disciples, and rebuking the Pharisees. In all
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  Speaker 2: these interactions, Jesus shows that he is driven by compassion,
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  Speaker 2: Inspired by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 3: Hello and welcome to the Bible in a Year. This
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  Speaker 3: is Jack Graham. In our last episode, we heard about
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  Speaker 3: a loving, forgiving father who accepted his repentant son with
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  Speaker 3: open arms, which provides us a picture of God's own
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  Speaker 3: nature and his desire to restore us into his family
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  Speaker 3: when we come to him. Jesus was showing the Pharisees
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  Speaker 3: and all of us that God rejoices greatly when even
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  Speaker 3: one of His children comes back to Him, no matter
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  Speaker 3: where they've been or what they've done. It's never too
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  Speaker 3: late for a new beginning. Today, we'll hear as Jesus
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  Speaker 3: continues to show mercy, compassion, and healing to those around
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  Speaker 3: Him who have great physical and spiritual needs. His unconditional
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  Speaker 3: and limitless love for humanity is a stark contrast to
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  Speaker 3: the religiosity of His day. As we listen, Jesus also
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  Speaker 3: will teach a lesson about prayer and God's willingness to
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  Speaker 3: hear our cries for help and forgiveness when we come
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  Speaker 3: to him with a humble heart. So let's listen now
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  Speaker 3: to today's gospel reading.
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  Speaker 2: Have mercy on us, Jesus heard from the distance. The
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  Speaker 2: faint moans were coming from the shadows below some rocks
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  Speaker 2: near Galilee. Jesus, our master, please have mercy on us,
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  Speaker 2: the voices cried out again. Jesus and his disciples stopped
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  Speaker 2: to inspect the source of the painful moans. Then creeping
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  Speaker 2: out of the shadows were ten lepers. Their faces were
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  Speaker 2: mangled from years of rotting. Their eyes were yellow and
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  Speaker 2: nearly lifeless. The disciples leaped back in fear, but Jesus
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  Speaker 2: stepped forward. The ten lepers all fell to their knees
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  Speaker 2: and begged Jesus to heal them. Jesus touched each and
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  Speaker 2: every one of them gently. He was moved with compassion.
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  Speaker 2: Go your way. Show yourselves to the priests, for you
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  Speaker 2: are healed. As the ten lepers arose, the dark sores
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  Speaker 2: on their bodies began to heal. Their limbs regained color
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  Speaker 2: and feeling. Even their voices were filled with more life
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  Speaker 2: than before. The lepers leapt with joy and skipped their
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  Speaker 2: way back into the city. Their laughs echoed as they
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  Speaker 2: held each other arm to arm. Jesus smiled, then turned
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  Speaker 2: back to continue walking with his disciples. After about a mile,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus heard a voice shouting from behind him. It was
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  Speaker 2: one of the healed lepers. He had used his newfound
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  Speaker 2: energy to run back to Jesus and fall at his feet.
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  Speaker 2: He thanked Jesus and praised him for the work he
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  Speaker 2: had done in his life. Thank you, the man said
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  Speaker 2: with tears. Jesus laughed from his belly and embraced the man.
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  Speaker 2: Then he looked around. There were no signs of the others.
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  Speaker 2: Were there not ten of you? Where are the other nine?
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  Speaker 1: Jesus asked.
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  Speaker 2: Is there no one else who will thank God except
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  Speaker 2: this man? Jesus shrugged, saddened by the lack of gratitude.
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  Speaker 2: Later that evening, Jesus was beside the fire with his disciples.
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  Speaker 2: The cool breeze was a welcomed relief after a hot
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  Speaker 2: day of traveling. The men ate together and told stories.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes they would speak of God's will. Other times they
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  Speaker 2: would make jokes and laugh. Eventually, the disciples were asking
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  Speaker 2: Jesus about prayer. They wanted to know if God always
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  Speaker 2: listened to them. if he always bent his ear to
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  Speaker 2: hear their cries. A few of them confessed that they
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  Speaker 2: would often lose heart when they prayed to God. They
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  Speaker 2: would pray for a few weeks, but eventually stop when
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  Speaker 2: things wouldn't change. Jesus propped himself up closer to the fire,
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  Speaker 2: looking deeply into the flickering flame. He pondered for a
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  Speaker 2: moment and then began to tell another parable. There was
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  Speaker 2: once a judge who did not fear God. He was
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  Speaker 2: a grumpy man and unhappy. In his city was a
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  Speaker 2: widow who had been wronged. Every day she went into
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  Speaker 2: his courtroom yelling, Give me justice! But every time the
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  Speaker 2: judge refused. The widow would come in every day asking
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  Speaker 2: for justice. She would ask so often that the judge
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  Speaker 2: eventually said to himself, I will do anything to get
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  Speaker 2: this woman to leave me alone. So he granted her justice.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus leaned over to his disciples and said, Even the
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  Speaker 2: unrighteous judge was worn down over time. Will not God,
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  Speaker 2: who loves you, bend his ear to bring you justice?
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  Speaker 2: Cry to him day and night. He will give justice
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  Speaker 2: to those who cry out for it. The next day
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  Speaker 2: Jesus and his disciples were walking in the city streets
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  Speaker 2: of Galilee. The city was busy and many tax collectors
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  Speaker 2: were set up on the cross streets to collect what
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  Speaker 2: was owed to Rome. Pharisees and other Jews scoffed and
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  Speaker 2: spited the men collecting taxes in the courtyard. They looked
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  Speaker 2: at them with complete disdain. They saw them as rats
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  Speaker 2: and betrayers of Israel because they worked for the Romans.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus watched from a distance as the Pharisees stuck their
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  Speaker 2: noses high in the air. Moved by the Spirit, Jesus
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  Speaker 2: rose up and elevated his voice. Two men went to
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  Speaker 2: the temple to pray.
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  Speaker 3: He yelled.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus had a voice that drew attention. Everyone stopped to listen.
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  Speaker 2: Two men entered the temple. One of them was a Pharisee,
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  Speaker 2: the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee prayed standing.
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  Speaker 2: He held his arms high in the air and yelled,
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  Speaker 2: O God, I thank you that I am not like
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  Speaker 2: other men. I thank you that I am not like
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  Speaker 2: these thieves, adulterers, liars, and tax collectors. I fast every week,
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  Speaker 2: I tithe all I earn, and I know your law
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  Speaker 2: inside and out. Jesus walked over to the desk of
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  Speaker 2: the tax collectors. He looked at them with compassion and
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  Speaker 2: gave a gentle smile. Still projecting his voice, he said,
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  Speaker 2: The other man, the tax collector, was on his knees
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  Speaker 2: and face. He could barely look to heaven. Knowing his
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  Speaker 2: heart was wicked, he beat his chest and whispered to God,
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  Speaker 2: Have mercy on me. I am a sinner. Jesus pointed
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  Speaker 2: to the Pharisees and gave them a long, glaring stare.
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  Speaker 2: Know this. The tax collector went home justified, not the Pharisee.
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  Speaker 2: He who exalts himself will be humbled. But he who
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  Speaker 2: humbles himself will be exalted. With those words, the Pharisees
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  Speaker 2: left to conspire against him.
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  Speaker 3: In today's scripture, Jesus and the disciples are passing between
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  Speaker 3: Samaria and Galilee on their way to Jerusalem. And as
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  Speaker 3: they enter a village, they are met by ten lepers,
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  Speaker 3: men who stood at a distance to ask Jesus to
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  Speaker 3: heal them. These men, as all lepers in those days,
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  Speaker 3: were shunned and cut out of society, kept away so
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  Speaker 3: they could not infect others. It was a terrible existence,
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  Speaker 3: both physically and emotionally. So these ten came to ask
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  Speaker 3: for healing, for restoration, that their skin could be cleansed
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  Speaker 3: so that once again they could join their families and friends,
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  Speaker 3: that they could get their lives back. Their cries had
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  Speaker 3: surely fallen on deaf ears before. But Jesus was not
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  Speaker 3: like everyone else. He heard their pleas for mercy and
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  Speaker 3: turned to them, telling them to go and present themselves
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  Speaker 3: to the priest. And as they turned, just as Jesus
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  Speaker 3: told them to do, each man was cleansed, the scales
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  Speaker 3: of leprosy shedding to reveal a healthy skin. So they
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  Speaker 3: ran off, surely eager to reap the benefits of this miracle.
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  Speaker 3: But we're told that one man, when he saw what
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  Speaker 3: Jesus had done, turned back and he said, Jesus, thank
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  Speaker 3: you for healing me. Of all the 10 men, only
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  Speaker 3: one expressed gratitude for the blessing. And this didn't go
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  Speaker 3: unnoticed by the Lord because he asked the man, where
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  Speaker 3: are the others? Were there not ten men healed? It
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  Speaker 3: was a rhetorical question intended to point out that only
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  Speaker 3: this Samaritan man, once again the least likely suspect in
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  Speaker 3: the eyes of any self-respecting Jewish person at that time,
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  Speaker 3: but only this man had the right heart attitude towards God,
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  Speaker 3: one filled with gratitude. His praise and humility opened the
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  Speaker 3: door for an even greater healing. For in Luke 17
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  Speaker 3: and verse 19, this is what Jesus said to the man,
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  Speaker 3: rise and go your way. Your faith has made you whole.
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  Speaker 3: You see, while all 10 lepers received healing that day,
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  Speaker 3: physical healing, only this grateful man who returned to worship
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  Speaker 3: the Lord experienced true spiritual restoration. We then heard as
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  Speaker 3: Jesus taught his disciples about prayer and how they are
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  Speaker 3: to be persistent in prayer, trusting God to hear them
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  Speaker 3: and answer and not to give up, not to lose heart.
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  Speaker 3: He told them of a judge, a very hard and
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  Speaker 3: difficult man who didn't listen to the cries of those
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  Speaker 3: in need, nor did he fear God. And yet this judge,
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  Speaker 3: when pestered for justice by a widow, eventually gave in.
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  Speaker 3: Then he told them that if this unjust man who
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  Speaker 3: was not righteous would help this widow, how much more
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  Speaker 3: would God help them? The point was not that God
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  Speaker 3: only hears our prayers if we pray hard enough or
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  Speaker 3: long enough, or that our prayers fall on deaf ears sometimes.
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  Speaker 3: Quite the opposite. Jesus was making the point that God,
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  Speaker 3: who is perfectly good and is perfectly just, will always
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  Speaker 3: give justice and hear the cries of those who seek him.
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  Speaker 3: The challenge for us, of course, is that we don't
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  Speaker 3: often understand God's timing. But knowing that God loves us
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  Speaker 3: and is perfectly good, that his goodness and mercy follows
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  Speaker 3: us all the days of our lives, we know that
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  Speaker 3: when we pray, he hears us and cares for us.
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  Speaker 3: And in his own time and in his own way,
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  Speaker 3: he will answer us. But Jesus had more to say
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  Speaker 3: to the disciples about prayer. Because they needed to understand
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  Speaker 3: the proper posture of prayer, the principles of prayer, he
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  Speaker 3: told them about two men. And once more, the characters
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  Speaker 3: were cast in counterintuitive roles, a tax collector and a Pharisee,
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  Speaker 3: each going to the temple to pray. To all who
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  Speaker 3: heard this, they would have expected the model to be
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  Speaker 3: the righteous man, the Pharisee who kept all the rules,
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  Speaker 3: the good man, so-called. The tax collector was a traitor
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  Speaker 3: and a cheat. He would never be a good example
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  Speaker 3: of prayer or anything else. Imagine the shock to the
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  Speaker 3: audience as Jesus told this story. The Pharisees stood proudly
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  Speaker 3: and spoke loudly, telling God everything about himself that made
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  Speaker 3: him better than sinners like the tax collector, reminding God
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  Speaker 3: why he had every right to be blessed. Like the
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  Speaker 3: older brother in the story of the prodigal son, this
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  Speaker 3: man felt justified by his own good deeds. But the
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  Speaker 3: tax collector, like the prodigal son who came home and
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  Speaker 3: fell on the grace of his father, This man humbled
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  Speaker 3: himself before the Lord. He said, Lord, be merciful to me,
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  Speaker 3: a sinner. And he asked God for his forgiveness. What
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  Speaker 3: then does Jesus conclude? That the one who owned up
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  Speaker 3: to his son, the man who humbled himself and asked
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  Speaker 3: for forgiveness, he was the one who went to his
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  Speaker 3: house right with God. When we humble ourselves before God,
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  Speaker 3: he always hears us. And if you want to know God,
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  Speaker 3: if you want to know Jesus as your Lord and Savior,
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  Speaker 3: begin with that simple prayer, the prayer of this man
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  Speaker 3: who said, Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. And
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  Speaker 3: then look to the Savior, the Lord Jesus, who died
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  Speaker 3: for our sins and rose again so that we could
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  Speaker 3: have eternal life. Dear God, we thank you for your
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  Speaker 3: word and what it teaches us about your desire to
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  Speaker 3: love us and restore us and heal us both physically
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  Speaker 3: and spiritually. May we always return with gratitude day after
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  Speaker 3: day with thanksgiving in our hearts for all that you
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  Speaker 3: have done for us. And may we always look to
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  Speaker 3: you in humility, asking for your forgiveness when we sin
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  Speaker 3: and receiving your love and grace and healing. For we
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  Speaker 3: pray in Jesus' name because your love never fails. Amen.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Jack Graham of Dallas, Texas. You can download the
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  Speaker 3: Pray.com app and make prayer and Bible study the priority
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  Speaker 3: of your life. And if you enjoyed this podcast, tell
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  Speaker 3: someone about it. Pass it on. Let others know because
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  Speaker 3: it is our desire to get God's Word to as
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  Speaker 3: many people as possible as fast as possible. And if
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  Speaker 3: you want to know more about what it means to
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  Speaker 3: be a Christ follower, what it means to be a
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  Speaker 3: disciple of Jesus, then go to JackGraham.org. JackGraham.org. And we
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  Speaker 3: have many resources that are available for you there. God
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  Speaker 3: bless you.